Titans, Predators have propelled Nashville into big leagues

Sep. 22, 2013

Today marks an anniversary of sorts for the city’s NFL and NHL organizations. The football team plays its first home game of their 15th Titans season when it plays the San Diego Chargers at noon; the hockey team begins its 15th season when the Predators play the New York Islanders at 5 p.m. / Photo Illustration / The Tennessean

Nashville’s recent rise to prominence as a destination city may not have been as successful without the two major professional sports teams.

“The Titans and Predators are an important part of our downtown’s vibrancy and our city’s economic vitality,” Mayor Karl Dean said. “Our two major league sports teams increase Nashville’s prominence nationally and give us an edge over many of the cities we compete with for jobs and workers. I’m a big sports fan, and I love seeing the Titans play on Monday Night Football with the city’s beautiful skyline in the background, and both the Titans and Predators do a great job of bringing thousands of people downtown on a regular basis.”

The Titans

The NFL came to Nashville in 1998. After spending 1997 in Memphis, the relocated Houston Oilers franchise moved to Vanderbilt Stadium in 1998. However, the team’s impact on Nashville was not truly felt until the 1999 season, when the team was renamed the Titans and moved into a new $290 million stadium on the east bank.

The NFL’s presence immediately gave unprecedented television coverage to the city as the Titans advanced to the Super Bowl.

The NFL is the largest sport in the United States, and, according to Forbes, is worth at least $35 billion. Only 31 cities in the country have teams in this sport. In August, Forbes estimated the Titans’ value at $1.05 billion.

“What’s fun is they’re talking about Nashville and the Titans year-round,” said Don Mac-Lachlan, executive vice president of administration and facilities for the Titans. “It has really become a year-round process and a year-round visibility is getting tied in with the Titans.”

Also the 69,149-seat LP Field is used for other events, including music festivals, soccer games and college football bowl games.

“All of that leverages the position of the city on a grand scale and on a worldwide stage,” Spyridon said. “You can’t play in the big leagues if you’re not a city that’s home to some of the professional sports.”

The Predators

When the Predators began play at then-named Nashville Arena in 1998, there were no luxury hotels.

“If you were outside this building and looked around to the south of Broadway, beyond the activity on Broadway, there wasn’t much,” said Gerry Helper, Predators senior vice president of hockey communications and public relations. “The arrival of the Predators and the Titans really accelerated that growth. I do believe the presence of two major league franchises elevated Nashville to a level it had not been at before and helped to grow the momentum.”

Today, there are a dozen high-rise hotel projects being built or planned in the city. Other big-price buildings include the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which opened in 2006, and the $585 million Music City Center, which opened earlier this year.

“None of those structures were here when this building and this team began,” Helper added. “I really do believe that a lot of this — I’m not going to say it all happened because of the Predators. But this is when you go back to the vision of (former mayor) Phil Bredesen and the vision of an arena and hopefully an anchor tenant becoming the centerpiece of your downtown.”

The Predators play regular-season games at what is now called Bridgestone Arena, a 17,113-seat facility complete with luxury suites, which help attract a large-scale local economic influence. In November, Forbes estimated the team’s value at $167 million.

According to a report released by the team in March 2012, the Predators have a $410 million impact on Nashville’s economy.

Budding city, budding teams

The seven-county area of Davidson, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson has grown to 1,611,172 from 1,163,706 in 1997.

The Music City Center helps make the city competitive for major national conventions.

“We used to be compared to Memphis and Birmingham and point to Charlotte as a city that was ahead of us,” Spyridon said. “Now our competition is Atlanta and New Orleans and Orlando, and it is just a different day. And it really started with the teams and the facilities.”

There are several other factors that have led to Nashville’s growth. It simply can’t be placed with the arrival of the two sports teams.

“Rather than the teams driving the economic engine, it is more likely that they are following in its wake,” Vanderbilt economics professor John Vrooman said. “The economic viability of the Predators and Titans is probably more a welcome symptom or result of this natural endogenous growth rather than a driving cause.”

Yet there is an emotional and intangible element to the professional teams locating to Nashville.

Said Vrooman, “Both clubs serve in an economic and social network that unifies Nashville in lively discussions around the water cooler, and both clubs serve as intangible but real links in the economic grid of the metro Nashville.”